If you have never ridden before...
Oct 31 '00
If you have ever owned a bike before, then you know what you are looking for and don't need advice about it. If you have never owned a bike before but have ridden someone else's extensively (or much at all and are comfortable on a bike), you probably don't need advice either. But if you have never ridden or owned a bike before, then definitely read this.
The first thing to do before you buy a bike is to find someone that has a dirt bike for you to ride. Why do I recommend this? If you lay down a plastic dirt bike in the dirt, it won't hurt as much and the owner won't be as mad as you will if you lay down your new street bike in the middle of the road. I don't know first hand about how the road feels (knock on wood), but I have seen guys go down and it's not pretty (especially if you want a Sport Bike, because you WILL ride fast).
The other reason that riding a dirt bike quite a bit first is a good thing is that it will teach you to shift smoothly. If you are used to changing gears smoothly while the bike is bouncing around, then you will have no problems learning how to change gears on a street bike while you are rolling smoothly over the pavement.
I was lucky and used to ride dirt bikes a lot when I was a kid, so it only took me one afternoon of riding one again before I could learn to ride my Yamaha YZF R6. The only thing to keep in mind when you get on the street bike for the first time is that it is a LOT heavier than the dirt bike is. The first time you hit the brakes and try to stop you will notice this.
The next thing you need to consider before you even begin to worry about what manufacturer and model bike to buy is what size. This will make a difference when it comes time to buy a particular bike, because some models by the same manufacturer are good and some are bad. I usually start by body size...I am 5'8", 155 lbs, so for my first bike I wasn't about to buy a Suzuki Hayabusa (1300cc Sport Bike) for my first bike, because that is too much engine for my body type. For Beginners that are about my size, I definitely recommend a 600cc...if you are a bit bigger, a 750cc might be better for you.
This also brings me to another point...don't buy a little bike. My little brother (who is 6'1" and about 170 lbs) decided he was going to buy a bike after I did, but he wanted something new, didn't want to make payments, and didn't want anything too big. So without consulting me first, he bought a Kawasaki Ninja 250 brand new for like $3,000. He figured it would be good to learn on, and planned on selling it in a year or so after he got comfortable riding. First of all, he looked goofy riding that little thing. I am laughing now thinking about it. Second of all, it took him all of two months to outgrow it and want a bigger bike so he could hang with me out front.
Well, here's the kicker. He had just broken the bike in, so there weren't many miles on it, so he wanted to get $2500 for it. That didn't happen, so he tried for $2000...no dice. No one wanted to buy a bike that was to months old and had miles on it already for almost the same price as a new bike...he ended up getting $1500 for it when he traded it in for a Blue R6 (I had the Red, but since then i have repainted it since there are only 2 colors for the Yamaha bikes and I wanted to stand out).
OK, so now we covered learning to ride (or getting used to riding again, whatever the case may be), picking what size bike is good for you, and not buying a little bike to learn thinking you will ride it for a while before you grow out of it, so let's talk about how to pick the right bike for you. Here I will talk about Sport Bikes, because that is all I know about.
I recommend Sport Rider Magazine (I wrote an opinion about that magazine too) if you are looking for write-ups and advice about different bikes you are interested in. I used to really like the Kawasaki Ninja when I was a kid, and I have always wanted one. But I was looking through Sport Rider and a couple other magazines (that weren't as helpful) and saw that the Ninja didn't stack up compared to the R6 or the Honda CBR F4. So that one was right out. Basically, by reading these magazines, I saw which bikes performed the best, and made my decision. That is what I strongly recommend to do for everyone looking to buy a bike, not just beginners.
The last thing I can recommend is to hang out with people that ride and find out what they think about the different models that you are looking at. Most people I know were very helpful when it came to me picking the right bike, and I appreciated it a lot. Just whatever you do, don't ever, ever, ever, (did I mention EVER) buy a Suzuki Katana (Can-Of-Tuna). Trust me...read my Opinion about it, and you will understand why...
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Epinions.com ID:
jeffs320
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Member: Jeff
Location: Fayetteville, NC
Reviews written: 266
Trusted by: 38 members
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